Vincent Kipruto wins Castelbuono race

Three months ago he dominated the Paris Marathon in his second race at the distance with an oustanding 2:05:47. Tonight (26)Vincent Kipruto took the honour at the 84th edition of the “Giro podistico internazionale di Castelbuono”, one of the oldest European race, held near Palermo.

On the hilly course of Castelbuono (a 1,13km lap to repeat ten times), the 21-year-old Kenyan was able at his debut to overtake just in the last meter Qatar's Hassan Mubarak Shami, the silver medallist in 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka. The couple could not have rivals in the race, leaving all the others runners more than half a minute behind.

Kipruto crossed the line with a time of 34:02, not far from the course record set by Martin Lel in 2004 with 33:46. Shami, who is also a Kenyan-born, but has run for Qatar since 2002, when he changed his name from Richard Yatich to the present one, closed one second behind. Duncan Kibet, another stunning marathon runner after his 2:04:27 win in Rotterdam last April, closed in 3rd with 34:36.

After dominating the 2007 edition from the first metre and closing in 4th place last year, Spain's Josè Manuel "Chema" Martinez could not confirm his good feeling with the Castelbuono race. He crossed the finish line 1:36 after the winner in 9th place.